Governance - Organisational Growth and Partnerships.

Over the past two years we have been investing in building better governance structures by recruiting new governance Board members and assuring a wider base of skills and expertise. The selection of new Board members will also be part of our wider plan for increasing the diversity of income streams and encouraging greater independence of our African partners.

William Fulton, Chair of Trustees

William founded the Mango Tree with his wife Gail over 10 years ago. He is the Chairman of the Britain-Tanzania Society and The Forum for African Orphans, former chairman of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and Liverpool Charity and Voluntary Services. He is a former trustee of Uppingham School, a member of the Chapter of Liverpool Cathedral, a magistrate and a deputy lieutenant.

Megan Rathbone

Megan’s interest in The Mango Tree stemmed from a childhood spent in developing countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, including 5 years in Nairobi. She, her husband and three children have been enthusiastic supporters for a number of years. She studied Geography at Edinburgh University followed by Kingston Business School. This led to a career in Marketing for the Thomson Travel Group and then Bank of America. Now self-employed, Megan is also a trustee of the Elizabeth Rathbone Trust supporting disadvantaged people in Merseyside.

Gail Fulton

Gail has regularly visited Africa for over 45 years. She trained as a physiotherapist and first went to Tanzania in 1968-1970 working for VSO. Also a qualified counsellor, she has worked voluntarily with Liverpool’s Personal Services Society and has been heavily involved with a number of youth organizations for disadvantaged children. She has been a Selector for VSO for over 18 years.

Nic Merrett

Nic is a geographer and a former senior housemaster at Uppingham School. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a member of the Britain-Tanzania society. He has over 30 years of experience in taking pupils abroad and organising expeditions. He first took sixth form pupils to Mango Tree soon after the charity was founded in 2003 and has returned to Tanzania with pupils on a regular basis.

Ben Rudman

Ben Rudman is co-founder and CEO of MMT Digital one of the UK’s leading digital agencies. In 2016 the Be Heard Group acquired the business. Ben is also an investor in a number of start-up businesses and sits on the boards of two other companies. He lives with his wife and their three children, and down time includes walking their two dogs, playing just about competitive hockey, and skiing and watching rugby.

The Mango Tree UK Team

Emily Pearson, The Mango Tree's UK Director

Emily has over 20 years experience in the not-for-profit sector in the UK and in Africa. She has worked in development in Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya and is co-founder of a pastoralist development organisation based in Kenya. Emily has managed a range of different development projects and brings experience in charity governance, major donor and grant making trust fundraising. Emily lives with her family in Gloucestershire, UK and is also involved with community projects in her local area.

Volunteering with The Mango Tree

Laragh and Laura volunteer at the Kyela Polytechnic College in Tanzania